Written by Marissa Hoen | December 14 2020
A few months ago, I talked to you all about the benefits of isometric resistance training, which entails contracting your muscle without moving through a range of motion. Today I wanted to add a new tool to your belt to improve your strength and add some variety to your workouts: Eccentrics!
What is eccentric resistance training?
Eccentric contractions occur when the muscle is lengthening while still under tension- most commonly thought of as the lowering phase of the movement.
Example: Think about your classic bicep curl. Lifting the weight against gravity and towards your body is a concentric contraction. Lowering the weight with gravity back to its original position in a controlled way requires an eccentric contraction in that biceps muscle.
Does this help improve strength?
When combined with regular strength training, eccentric training has been shown to elicit greater strength gains than regular strength training alone (Walker et al., 2016).
One study found that attenuated eccentric training (using more weight during the lowering phase of the movement than the lifting phase) results in greater maximum force production, work capacity, and muscle activation than regular strength training (Walker et al., 2016).
Training intensity has a significant impact on both strength improvements and muscle mass changes when compared with other training variables (Fry, 2004), which helps to explain why attenuated eccentric training results in strength improvements.
How can I add this to my workouts?
Eccentrics can be done for any muscle group! I like to add them when I’m a bit too fatigued to complete my repetitions the regular way, so I just do the lowering part! For example, when I am practicing push ups and can no longer maintain alignment in my spine, I lower to my knees during the push-up and pick my knees back up for the lower down (see image below).
Push Up: Eccentric Phase, no knees Push Up: Concentric Phase, with knee assist
Simply choose a movement you’d like to improve or a muscle you’d like to strengthen and keep in mind:
The movement that leads to eccentric contraction for one muscle is caused by concentric contraction of the antagonist muscle (the muscle that does the opposing action, usually on the opposite side of the limb, ie. biceps and triceps).
If you don’t have a partner to help spot you, you may need to use other body parts to help you get into position for the lowering phase. For example, if you wanted to practice tricep pulldowns, first pull the cable down with both hands, then use only one arm for the eccentric phase of the movement.
If you’ve never used weights in your workouts before, start with a light weight to prevent injury.
As always… remember to warm up before your weight training!
References
Fry A. C. (2004). The role of resistance exercise intensity on muscle fibre adaptations. Sports Med. 34, 663–679. 10.2165/00007256-200434100-00004
Walker, S., Blazevich, A. J., Haff, G. G., Tufano, J. J., Newton, R. U., & Häkkinen, K. (2016). Greater strength gains after training with accentuated eccentric than traditional isoinertial loads in already strength-trained men. Frontiers in Physiology, 7, 149-149. doi:10.3389/fphys.2016.00149
Image credit can be found here: https://www.wikihow.fitness/Use-Eccentric-Training